From Recruiting Undercover Linguists to Building Real-time Brain Monitoring for Neurosurgery, with Juliana Buonanno

What happens when a marine biologist-turned recruiter teaches herself to code and ends up building FDA-regulated medical devices — all through the power of being "really nosy" about how teams work?In this episode, TechSlice CEO Juliana Buonanno joins Dan Mazzucco to talk about navigating the intersection of software development and medical device regulation — from her unconventional path into medtech, to cash-plus-equity partnership models that align founder and vendor incentives, to the critical pitfalls that sink medical software startups (over-engineering early prototypes, skipping regulatory pathways, hiring generic dev shops).This conversation is for medtech founders who know that building regulated products requires more than just great code — it requires partners who understand clinical workflows, FDA expectations, and when to say no to shiny features.Juliana Buonanno is the CEO (Emeritus) of TechSlice, a Maryland-based software development agency helping physician-entrepreneurs and MedTech innovators bring new medical and security technologies to life. Over the past eight years, She has led and advised startups and technical teams through the challenges of building FDA-regulated products—from early concept to market-ready solutions.Before founding TechSlice, Juliana helped lead an organizational transformation that turned a mid-sized software firm from a $1M annual loss into profitability within a year. At TechSlice, she has overseen the creation of medical monitoring devices, AI-driven diagnostic tools, and other products that sit at the intersection of healthcare and technology. Her work centers on improving how complex, regulated technologies are built—making the process faster, more transparent, and more effective.